It may be shocking to read in The Nation, but a blanket moratorium on new deepwater drilling may not be the best policy to pursue in the wake of the BP disaster. No state in the union is more addicted to oil than Louisiana; the oil and gas industry is responsible for roughly 25 percent of the state's economic activity.

Yes, that is an obstacle, but let us not forget that Louisiana generally lands in the bottom quintile of US states in terms of economic performance -- meaning that we feel like we've done a good job when we come in 40th. The other 75 percent of the economy counts as well, and what do we find there? A bit of tourism, fishing and agriculture, etc. But Louisiana doesn't really lead when it comes to innovations; most of what the state produces is based on exploitation of natural resources, some of which are renewable and some of which aren't.

Someone has got to make the case to these coon-asses (note: that's what we call ourselves) that the oil and gas sector is going to dwindle anyway -- even if we do not ban offshore drilling -- and that we have to come up with other sources of energy and other types of jobs starting now.